“McFarlane peoples her canvases with seductresses of all shapes and sizes as she explores the concepts of femininity and beauty” - The Sydney Morning Herald The idea of deriving pure visual pleasure from art is one of the themes which influences my work. The use of decorative motifs with historic connotations of kitsch; proliferated and contaminated by consumer society and the notion of art shamelessly embracing beauty. Each piece is explored as a seductive visual trap with the central focus being the female icon. I stylistically paraphrase such clichés as pin up girls and fairy tale sirens and embrace ‘the spectacle of the naughty’ in my work. The viewer may identify with the women and see themselves in their alternatively devilish and innocent expressions or be seduced by the illusion of their servitude. I am interested in conflicted relationships of voyeurism in my work and the pornographic tendency to reveal everything and the erotic inclination to hide. My work moves beyond merely framing the aesthetics and ideals of femininity and into story telling and symbolist sub text. The narratives present extend an invitation of escapism to the viewer. Within each painting narrative threads link to create bewildering daydreams charged with touches of eroticism. Undercurrents of insecurity operate suggestively. The ambiguous divide between the private and public self is explored by transferring intimate situations and private metaphors into a public, almost theatrical arena. I want to create an intense material drama by including psychologically resonant imagery from everyday domesticity, nature and popular culture.